Forget Brexit, TTIP’s back

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been knee-deep in Brexit news this last couple of weeks.

So it would’ve been super easy for you to miss the fact that TTIP negotiators are sitting down next week to nail down the deal and get it all signed as soon as they can. Our environment, affordable healthcare, and working conditions are all at stake.

If the talks succeed, 2016 will be the year our politicians sign away our rights — and until we know what’s happening with Brexit, that includes the UK.

Negotiators are trying pretty much everything to make sure the TTIP negotiations stay out of the media.

They don’t want us to know what they’re discussing, but everything we know about this deal is extremely concerning — affecting everything from healthcare to the food we eat.

We can’t match the budget of the governments and corporate lobbyists pushing for this deal. But we do have something they don’t: hundreds of thousands of people willing to get behind the campaign to drop TTIP, who are prepared to throw their support into a campaign to stop it.

Now, we need to work together to show the negotiators at the talks that we’re not going to go away — and that the longer they keep pushing for this deal, the louder our voices will become.

The European Commission last September proposed setting up an investment tribunal court that would allow firms to challenge government decisions as part of its larger Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Critics says the new court, which is intended to replace a much loathed investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system, will pressure governments into clawing back consumer protection rights and environmental standards in favour of corporate interest.

Earlier this week, the German Association of Magistrates, a Berlin-based judicial umbrella organisation, said it “sees neither a legal basis nor a need for such a court”.

It says existing national courts are good enough and that efforts by the Commission to create a new court undermines jurisdictions across the Union.

“The German Magistrates Association sees no need for the establishment of a special court for investors,” it states.

It says the new investor court would alter national court systems “and deprive courts of member states of their power.”

The German magistrates also cast doubt on the independence of the judges in the new system as well as their appointment procedures.

Proponents, for their part, say the investment tribunal court is needed to both protect and attract foreign investment from potentially hostile governments or biased domestic courts.

‘Democratic principles and public scrutiny’

The European Commission declined to comment but instead referred back to its previous stated positions.

EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who is heading the TTIP talks, last year said the new court would be “subject to democratic principles and public scrutiny”.

The centre-right European People’s Party and the centre-left Socialists & Democrats groups in the European Parliament spearheaded the new investor court last summer and backed the commission’s proposal. Others, like the Greens, opposed the plan, noting businesses should not be allowed to file cases in private courts outside current legal systems.

The TTIP talks, which have been largely held in secret since 2013, aim to remove non-tariff barriers to trade.

The 12th round of talks will be held in Brussels on 22 February.

“We will only know closer to the date what topics will be discussed,” said a commission spokesperson.